Despite its detractors, Google+ remains one of the “big four” social networks and has its share of prominent fans in the business world.
For most websites, Google+ doesn’t drive the volume of social traffic that Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter do. But it can still be interesting place to hang out, and it may help with SEO.
As with Facebook, Twitter, and other popular networks, Google+ has also inspired its own ecosystem of tools. Here are half a dozen of the most popular, as ranked by reviewers.
Again, as for all posts in this series, tools are shown with the number of results returned by Google on a search for reviews of that tool (not necessarily the actual number of reviews) and example showcase reviews. Links to all showcase reviews are included near the end of this post.
1) CircleCount
Google Review Count: 70,400
Counts the circles in which you are included. This metric represents the number of persons who are following a user’s posts at Google+. Also reports additional influence metrics including the average number of +1s, comments or reshares a person gets for each post.
Sample review: The Google+ tool “I find really useful is CircleCount.. The easiest way to see Google+ in numbers. Google+ profile and page metrics you wanted, needed and couldn’t find anywhere.” — RazorSocial
Pricing: free to $34 per year
Showcase reviews: RazorSocial
2) Circloscope
Google Review Count: 33,800
Tool to help identify top engagers in your subject area, quickly create new circles based on those who have engaged with your content, track your followers and their popularity, and unfollow based on a variety of metrics.
Sample review: “Circloscope allows me to effortlessly manage my Google plus circles with ease. Locating and removing inactive profiles can be very time consuming as a task, Circloscope allows me and my team to remove clutter quickly and efficiently.” — RazorSocial
Pricing: $47 per year
Showcase reviews: BuzzBlogger, Catherine Pham/SlideShare, RazorSocial
3) Friends+Me
Google Review Count: 4,920
A Google+-oriented social media management tool, Friends+Me lets you schedule posts on Google+, cross-promote those posts to your accounts on other popular social networks, and coordinate posting activities with team members.
Sample review: “Friends+Me allows me to focus on growing my audience and posting in Google+ then assists me by strategically “reposting” them to various other social channels, as appropriate. The customization is stellar, so setting time aside to take advantage of all opportunities is on my geeky calendar.” — Katie Lance
Pricing: $3 per month per connected social media account, plus $6 per month for each additional team member
Showcase reviews: Catherine Pham/SlideShare, Katie Lance
4) GPlusData
Google Review Count: 2,930
Complete Google+ analytics reporting, including engagement stats, follower growth, demographic information about your followers, and your best times and topics for posting.
Sample review: “GPlusData is a comprehensive resource for Google Plus trends and statistics.” — BuzzBlogger
Pricing: free or Pro pricing by request
Showcase reviews: BuzzBlogger
5) Post Editor for Google+
Google Review Count: 223
Post Editor for Google+ is a Chrome extension that adds formatting buttons to the bottom of the post box so you can easily style your posts. It also includes a variety of symbols you can insert into your updates.
Pricing: free
Showcase reviews: BuzzBlogger
6) Do Share Chrome
Google Review Count: 223
A Chrome browser extension to help write and schedule posts on Google+. Enables you to share links to Google+ from any tab, schedule posts for later, share to circles as well as communities, and more.
Pricing: free
Showcase reviews: BuzzBlogger, RazorSocial